Sally Wen Mao with Jane Wong

The author of one of the more compelling poetry debuts we’ve seen in recent years, Sally Wen Mao with her first book, Mad Honey Symposium, Sally Wen Mao makes this welcome first Elliott Bay appearance for her just-released second collection, Oculus (Graywolf). She’ll be welcomed and joined this evening by esteemed poet Jane Wong, author of Overpour.

“In her stunning second collection, Mao stages a searing ventriloquy act. . . . These depictions speak and fight back against the white gaze that has framed them.”—NPR.org.

“Hauntingly perceptive. . . . An homage to pioneering Chinese Americans and an indictment of Asian representation in American culture, which never for a moment shies away from the difficult tasks of taking on race and history and technology all at once.”—Vulture.

“Anna May Wong, Afong Moy, Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop, and other visions of Asian American femininity and futurity are excavated in Oculus.”—The Margins.